That black screw needs to come out because it goes all the way through the computer into the back of the keyboard. However, I didn't see any EMI finger, unless that's the purpose of the metal directly underneath it. EMI fingers are those little tin foil like things you'll see along the ports inside the computer. They provide shielding from what I presume stand for electro-magnetic interference.

EMI stands for electro-magnetic inteference. An EMI finger is a piece of metal that connects two pieces of a metal case together, preventing EMI ("radio waves") from passing in or out. In this case, yes it is the "clip".

The black phillips screw is completely stuck on my compulter, and in my frustration, I managed to stripp the screw.. Noe I am concidering drilling it out, this will most likely destroy both the screw and the "EMI finger". Is this a problem? I guess the screw is no problem, but the EMI finger? Or anybody have any ideas to what I could do, I wanted to change my harddrive.. Thanks!

Dear powerbookg4hdd. This is a very long screw and you could not drill it out. First, try to turn it with needle-nose pliers. If that is too difficult, use a larger drill bit and try to drill the head completely off instead. You're in a very difficult situation. Of course, remove the RAM card to give yourself some working space.

Dear jerrkrinock! Thank you for your quick reply. Taking your recommendation, I did not try to drill it out, and after considering several approaches, I used a cutter and changed the "star" screw into a "straight" one. This was successful, and I was able to change the drive. I did not find anything that could be an EMI finger, though.. Anyways, thanks ifixit.som for great guides!

I believe the clip is referring to the ribbon of grounding material that the plate sits on. You need to move it over to take the long screw out without tearing it. And then you need to lift it and hold it out of the way when you replace the the long screw to avoid pinching it under the head of the screw. TR

To be clear on this step you don't need to remove the long black screw (in fact it doesn't appear possible to remove it completely) just make sure it's been unscrewed as much as possible and then leave alone

This is correct. The long black screw screws into the keyboard so it does need to be unscrewed, but can be left in place. It may fall out while the laptop is bottom down but if you are working on a towel you'll find it easily.

Zitat von mancunianlad:

To be clear on this step you don't need to remove the long black screw (in fact it doesn't appear possible to remove it completely) just make sure it's been unscrewed as much as possible and then leave alone

I don't see anything that looks like a clip under this screw. It came out just fine (although it wanted to pull up the padding directly above it when I I pulled it out), but all that's under it is the metal plate it's screwed into, which looks like it is also held down by another screw. Is this what I'm supposed to remove? It certainly doesn't seem to want to come up.

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Note that this is a "right angle" coaxial connector. The metal cube is a part of the connector and stays with the cable. It is not a part of the airpor card. Also, I found two clear plastic blocks in front of the airport card, a smaller one near the connector and a larger one on the other side. Possibly these are to keep the cable from vibrating and flexing during, say, a truck ride. Don't lose these.

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This is scary - take a deep breath before continuing. Place your index finger under the upper left corner of the key and lift up until you hear a click. Then, transfer your finger to the left edge of the key and lift up to pull the key off.

You're freeing the two tabs on the left of the key from the two small holes in the plastic scissors mechanism.

When replacing the keys in the keyboard, place the key directly over the slot where it will go and press down until you hear the key click into place.

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There's some kind of extension to the keyboard in the upper left which slots into the area underneath. Mine was stuckfast and had to be pried loose with a screwdriver. That bent the keyboard, but I manage to get it straightened out somewhat. Any tips for dislodging this piece should it get stuck like mine?

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I would not pull up on the ribbon as is being done in the picture. Note that the black pastic base that you see is the connector part that is permanently attached to the ribbon cable. Use a small screwdriver or spudger alternately on each end of the black plastic base to pry and rock it upwards.

I agree. I was able to use a needle nose pliers to gently grab the black connector and wiggle the connector from the motherboard.

Zitat von jerrykrinock:

I would not pull up on the ribbon as is being done in the picture. Note that the black pastic base that you see is the connector part that is permanently attached to the ribbon cable. Use a small screwdriver or spudger alternately on each end of the black plastic base to pry and rock it upwards.

Don't do what I did.. I had taken both top and bottom screws out before coming upon this site.

When I had put everything back together again, I unfortunately realized that the top set (towards the bottom of the computer) of screws attach the screen to the frame. On the screen setup there are these prongs that slide into the bottom edge of the frame. My prongs where sitting ontop of where they were suppose to go. I then had to take the computer apart completely again :(

Make a full page printout and using sticky tape put the screws (in clusters if easier) where they should go on the photo. In fact I took a blank sheet of paper and did a step by step guide to all screws I took out and then put the screws next to each step header (1,2,3....) and put sticky tape on them.

the 1.5mm works fine but seems to be a littlebit too small (But i can't test it since i do not own 1/16 inch Hex (but that one should be about 1.58mm).

That very well may be true. The 1.5 mm hex does go in pretty easily, but I got both screws out and back in with it. I don't have a 1/16 hex either, but that would be interesting to try if anyone has one.

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This step is extremely tricky, and has the potential to ruin your computer. It is easy to pull the plug with the red and black leads (the power) out of the motherboard. If you do that, it is nearly impossible to fix.

Peel up the two pieces of foil tape on the left side of the keyboard area.

The connectors at the ends of the cables are attached very firmly to the sockets on the logic board. Pulling directly on the cable will either separate the cable from its connector or the socket from the logic board.

Carefully disconnect the microphone and power cables from the logic board. Using your fingernails or a dental pick, carefully pry the connectors from their sockets. Make sure you're pulling only on the connector and not on the socket.

In the picture, the foil is already gone. If your computer has been taken apart previously, as apparently ours has, the foil may be already gone. The photo is missing the markers that are needed to see what they are talking about, but these two connectors are near the left side. The speaker cable has a red and black wire, and the microphone connector has three grayish white wires.

I pulled the plug off the red and black power leads. I successfully pulled the plug off the board and took it to my apple store. The tech. said that I would need to find the entire power lead..from the button to the plug, or the entire metal piece with everything attached. He doubted that Apple still stocked any of the parts and suggested I look for parts on eBay. I may be able to push the wires back into the old plug but this may not be a stable connection. Any suggestions???

As another reviewer suggested you don't need to unplug the 2 cables for the mic and power cables and risk breaking the connectors. Once you have managed to unclasp the casing just - carefully - put the casing to the left side and prop it up so it's standing almost vertically. You will have enough room to access the hard drive underneath.

I broke out the power socket here. Even though I tried to hold it down with a plastic dental tool. I believe I have carefully soldered it back to the board. I will know if I did when I get it back together. I quit at step 21 and decided to put it back together. I will use an external optical drive if I ever need one.

On my PBG4, I found 3 wires attached to the upper case - red and black wires that run to the power button, blue and black wires that run to the mic, and a flat orange cable that runs from the trackpad to a socket on the motherboard. The coloured wires are taped to the upper case, and don't need to be removed. The flat orange connector is directly under the square opening in the upper case, and has loop to help in removing it from the motherboard (which needs to be done). This step was not tricky at all.

Yes, you don't need to do this step, but you SHOULD gently pull the little loop that is to the right of the yellow box -- separates the trackpad wires from the board. Compare the picture in 14 with the picture in 15 and you'll see the technician did this.

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As suggested above this is quite tricky due to the plastic catches towards the front of the case (ie where the trackpad is). Access the front 2 on the right by going in through the empty battery slot and prise away the plastic from the case. That leaves the 2 on the left which are tricky. Use a spudger or flat head screw driver (v careful here though so as not to scratch the casing) to work around the front left casing. Don't give up or despair - it does unlock eventually!

Heed the warning that this is a difficult procedure. Those little clips were a lot of work (sliced finger trying to get into the case). I was able to do it but with much attention to not break my case. Patience.

Maybe mine had been opened before but the cover came off fairly easily. Getting it back on was a little tricky and required some finesse. I was able to get mine off with just my fingers and finger nails.

As suggested above this is quite tricky due to the plastic catches towards the front of the case (ie where the trackpad is). Access the front 2 on the right by going in through the empty battery slot and prise away the plastic from the case. That leaves the 2 on the left which are tricky. Use a spudger or flat head screw driver (v careful here though so as not to scratch the casing) to work around the front left casing. Don't give up or despair - it does unlock eventually!

If you don't do step 14 (and you really DON'T need to), then know that you're not going to be able to remove completely the upper case from the lower. It will be attached by the black/red wires and the gray wires (see my comment in step 14, too, about detaching the wires that connect with the trackpad). I could not lean the upper case against the screen -- my wires were not long enough, I guess -- but since both sets of attached wires (skipping step 14) are on the same side, you can tip it up and hold it whilst you remove the hard drive. Yes, be patient in doing this step. I broke a guitar pick doing this, so you can apply some force, but do so gently. In the end, I'm not sure what I did to get the non-battery side separated, but just kept wiggling it and applying some force near the trackpad. It popped, and I immediately stopped putting on pressure to ensure I did not pull the upper case completely off (separating the wires/connectors referenced in step 14).

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Using a screw driver, gently release the two grey plastic clips inside the battery compartment in order to remove the right part of the upper case.

There are two more grey plastic clips holding the left part of the upper case. They are not easy to release as they are hidden from view prior to disassembly. They are in the same position as the two in the battery compartment, but on the opposite side of the trackpad. Try to stick a flat pry tool into the clip holes and push the clips inward (toward to screen) so they disengage and release the left part of the upper case.

This is not as easy as it looks. You see the four slots in the picturer there -- the two on the end are partially covered by the technician's left and right thumbs. Those are attached to plastic clips that need to be disengaged. You can access the two inside the batter compartment and disengage them using a small flat-head screwdriver, but the two on the left are not accessible. I finally got them to disengage by pulling up near the trackpad.

These instructions neglect to mention that there are two hidden clips on the left side of upper case. They are just like the clips in the battery compartment, but they are hidden from view (they are above the hard drive compartment. So it is necessary to not only pry the bottom case out a little, but also to find the two slots where those clips are engaged, and push them in slightly (with a small nylon pry tool, or very gently with a small flathead screwdriver). You can see one of them in the photo above just to the left of the the trackpad, but the one on the left is blocked (in the photo) by the person's left thumb. It's pretty much in the same location as the two in the battery compartment, just on the left side. Good luck. Took me 15-20 minutes of increasingly more forceful prying before I got lucky and accidentally found the left clip holes. I wish these instructions mentioned them... I've edited them so they do now.

I had my hard disk replaced about 6 years ago but I decide to replace it myself this time. I think the service guy must have had a problem with the power socket as this was wobbling on the logic board when I opened it up. I unplugged the mic but left the power (red and black wires) in the board as this was so loose it would have come clean off trying to unplug. I put it all back together and it didn't fire up. In the end I had no choice but to pull the power socket clean off the board as it wasn't making any contact with the contacts on the board. Using a magnifying glass i could see that this wasn't soldered (looked like it was glued) and had two plastic pins. These pins slotted in two holes on the board to align. I the end I just put a bit of superglue gel on the pins and using tweezers place it in position and held it there for 20 secs. It was how firm on the board like the mic socket. Before screwing it all back I pugged in the power to test it. It worked. Fired up instantly. If you ever manage to pull off the socket, just glue it back but avoid getting glue on the contacts.

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FYI, if all you want to do is oil your computer fan, remove the sticker from atop the fan at this step and you will expose three holes that lead directly to the fan's bearing. I used a silicone-based lubricant and sprayed directly into the holes.

The spring screws here are very hard to remove.. the posts holding them down to the logic board popped off for me, and I wasn't about to remove the logic board to re-solder them. I couldn't even get them apart after they were out though! All I did was re-apply thermal paste to the CPU and thermal pads to the GPU and Northbridge chip, and them put on the heatsink without the two spring screws. It keeps cool temperatures, (118* F after normal web browsing for about an hour), which is pretty good still. Just some reassurement for anyone with the same issue. :)

How on earth do the 7.5 mm heat sink screws work ? The ones with the springs? I had difficulty taking them out, and now I cant get them back in. They appear to have no threads on them yet all the instructions indicate to remove with a screwdriver. I dont get it-- after working on this for 2 days and I am stuck.

How on earth do the 7.5 mm heat sink screws work ? The ones with the springs? I had difficulty taking them out, and now I cant get them back in. They appear to have no threads on them yet all the instructions indicate to remove with a screwdriver. I dont get it-- after working on this for 2 days and I am stuck.

The screws connect to two posts coming up from the logic board. The post(s) may have popped off the logic board once you removed the screws. If so, you can try super-gluing the posts back to the logic board. There should be one post on either side of the CPU -- see Step 23 to get an idea of how they should look like.

I had a problem with one of those heatsink screw-posts and the super glue idea hasn't worked...I just left the screw out but when I powered up the computer everything works fine except if I open more than one program the fan kicks on and the computer goes to sleep for a few seconds until I hit the space bar, then everything works great...

Could this be because the heatsink isn't secure because I didn't put both screws in?

Well, obviously there is a mistake in step 33 since the "One 3 mm" and "Two 3.5 mm" are both shown as red, while the photo shows one red circle and two orange circles. In fact, I believe that the "One 3 mm" screw, which is the one that should be red, is in fact 4 mm, and the "Two 3.5 mm" screws are actually in the two orange circles.

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My 1 ghz model only has 2 screws, one in the upper left hand corner of the modem, one in the lower right hand corner, NOT one in the middle, so don't waste your time trying to peel the black plastic cover off of the modem.

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The connectors at the ends of the cables are often attached very firmly to the sockets on the logic board. Pulling directly on the cable will either separate the cable from its connector or the socket from the logic board.

Carefully disconnect six indicated connectors from the logic board. To disconnect the four white connectors, use your fingernails or a dental pick to carefully pry the connectors from their sockets. Make sure you're pulling only on the connector and not on the socket.

Connectors top-left and bottom-right of fan should be disconnected (along with screws) before removal of the heat-sink to avoid awkward "threading" of the heat-sink towards the display (potentially injurious to the display also).

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Deroute the microphone cable from its channel in the upper right corner of the framework.

The metal framework should now be free can be removed from the computer. Be careful when removing the metal framework that none of the cables get caught on the framework.

When reassembling the laptop, make sure that two wires come through the loop of metal on the frame on the upper right-hand side - a silver wire at right angles and the skinny black microphone channel. The third wire from underneath the frame is routed over the fan. The fourth wire from this corner is directly attached to the frame.

To re-assemble the EMI finger, make sure it fits well around the video connector. At the bottom of the video connector, the EMI finger has small "fingers", that should grab the logic board. At the top of the video connector, the EMI finger should go under a metal mesh "pillow".

I re-assembled the EMI finger completely wrong: on the top side of the connectors. i'm almost done re-assembling the power book, and I ask myself if it's necessary to do steps 21-54 again, or if I could just leave the EMI finger out....

I can not lift the board. Something is holding it down on the lower left side. all of the screws are out.. What can be holding it down?

Hi hooligan,

There shouldn't be anything in the lower left corner that would catch onto the logic board. Please double-check that all screws are removed before taking it out. You can disconnect the DC-in connector once you're able to partially lift out the logic board.

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The antenna is attached to the rear display bezel via adhesive. To remove it, place the flat end of a spudger behind the top edge of the antenna, and carefully twist the spudger to pop the antenna off.